You get nowhere without followers. Give them a sense of purpose. WHY are we doing this?

My model is about followership.

When Reagan was staring off into the Rose Garden he was saying in essence, ""I love you and I'll sit here as long as you want listening to your problem."

Always empower; give people a zone of operations--a span in which they can and are responsible for making decisions without you.

Trust is the glue and lubricant of the organization.

If you want to be a great leader: take care of your troops and have a destination.

Yes, failure IS an option.

When interacting with wounded soldiers I never say I'm sorry. They don't want my pity; they want respect. So I ask, "Were you a good soldier?...tell me about it." They want dignity. I say, "I know it had to be tough--thank you."

(On racism) We all have a responsibility to reach down, and across, to help someone else.

Personal axioms:

1. "It will look different in the morning."
Go to bed thinking that it'll be better--it's an attitude, a choice. We will be better, make it better. Infect your people with your positive attitude.

2. "Look for force multipliers."
Show them perpetual optimism.

3. "Get mad, then get over it."
Getting mad is human, normal. Give people space to express it then we can all move forward.

Q: When do you know when to fire v give someone a 2nd chance?
A: When I can't get them to buy in to my purpose or vision. If you don't fire the right person you risk your own credibility with the rest of the team.

Q. What's a red flag with an emerging leader?
A. (quickly) Ego. No one taught them humility. They think they turned the sun on this morning.

Everyone needs to know when it's time to get off the train--sometimes you have to throw them ;-)

4. "Tell me early." Don't try to fix it before you bring me a problem. Create an environment where this happens.

Q. What would you say to pastors?
A. Tell us how our faith makes us more relevant to the culture. Challenge people.

1. anonymity
It's our job to get to know and care about our people. (Dr Tremble story) "Get to know that orderly and get back with me."

(On exit interview)
Q. What could they have done to keep you?
A. Anything!

When we don't pay attention to our people, we just flush money down the drain.

Try taking an interest in the person above you.

2. irrelevance
If what we're doing doesn't make some one's life better, we can't love our work.
I think Adolf Hitler was born and raised in an airport ;-)

Relevance is a reason to perform. This is hard for administrative people so celebrate it when they help us--thank them.

3. immeasurement (made-up word)

Everyone needs to know their stats. Feedback.
Everyone wants to know if anyone recognized what they did well.

It's not always a metric--could be qualitative not quantitative.
Measure the right thing. The measurement must be something the employee can control.
(Eg. the drive thru window kid counts how many people he got to laugh.)

Multiplier world is exhausting yet exhilarating
Diminishier world is frustrating, exhausting

Secret diminishers:

1. Idea guy: because nothing gets done, we start chasing new ideas all the time.

2. Always-on guy: engaged, lots of energy. But after a while we hear them as Charlie Brown's teacher.

3. Rescuer: people don't learn because he/she is always saving the day.

4. Pace-setter: Loses people in the dust, creates watchers.

5. Rapid-responder: People tune out because you've got it, as usual.

6. Optimist: not realistic, glosses over the very real struggle.

Eg. of getting her kids into bed by simply asking them questions through the whole process ("What do we do first? Now what do we do?..."): is an example that with teams you don't have to keep telling them what to do.

In 1 John 3:16 when it says "lay down our life"...it means to love with action and truth, not words and speech.

I want to move from agreeing with Jesus to DOING things.

I didn't want a son-in-law I wanted a friend, that's why we built a chapel together.

Live a life of the calling YOU received...we tend to think we're just a big mistake.

"It's good to see you." See people for who they are becoming.

Every Thurs I quit something. If you'll make space, God will put amazing things in there.

(Story of a mamer of children named Cabi)
"Cabi comes to Christ...Really? And gives the gospel message to 3,000 men on death row...and says to me, 'I'm going to die in here because of you but I forgive you.' Really?!"

"(the TV show)The Bible is the biggest mistake you'll ever make." (Told to him by so many people in the industry.) "It was a calling."

You eventually have to get your ass off the couch and do something.

You have to get this man (Hybels) into pop culture a little! (Didn't know what The Voice was)

(Hybels inspirational words to Burnett when he was rather demoralized from industry criticism of The Bible) Stop apologizing. You love it. Get off the defensive. Be offensive.

The Bible series had 100 million viewers, #1 cable show ever. Why?
"The Holy Spirit. We prayed so hard and found time to be still and listen to God...we even beat hockey in Canada...#1 in Spain, Portugal, Columbia."

It's hard to talk about the Bible. It's easy to talk about The Bible series; it's a conversation starter.

Choose your companions before you choose your road.

Don't keep the energy suckers.

Team-up creative people with financial people and force them to work together; they can't win without the other.

Making a Christian show doesn't give you permission to make it crappy.

2007 61% of people said religion was losing influence in the culture.
80% of people know a Christian; 15% see any difference in Christians v others.
We have an influence problem.

Jane in Nairobi: selling her body for 25 cents. 800,000 "Janes" in Nairobi.

How to influence:

1. personal motivation
Help the good stuff feel good (pic of Batman with an apple; "What would Batman eat?")
Influencers can shape how people feel.
Don't just teach principles, connect to values.
Help people frame daily decisions in godly ways.
People will save more $$ if you call it a "new roof account" v savings account. (the right words matter.)

2. personal ability
Start with people's ability and move to motivation. Joshua worked with Moses 40 yrs before he stepped out.
The practice setting must approximate the real world. Help them practice and give immediate feedback.

Solving the problem of people cheating in the carpool lane?
A sign: "Report HOV Violators call 921-HERO." Offenses dropped 80% in 3 weeks.

Section leaders at church adds social capital.

How to get more people to take the stairs next to escalator?
A sign: "Want to burn 7 calories?"

Structural ability
Why do kids watch TV/video games? Look at how your house is designed--one room is all about watching a screen. Is there cool space for reading?

When all 6 sources of influence are used, results go up 10x!
Takeaway: intentional influence is highly effective.

He used the example of the history of the high jump.
For a long time the kind of jump was called "scissors." Legs kicked over first with a scissor motion. That worked until the innovation of the Fosbury Flop: head first, backwards.

A point was that the team who maintains scissors is probably not the team who comes up with the Fosbury Flop. So in this example our strategy should be: how do we innovate the future while managing the present?

Scissors is an example of dominant logic, or your current way of operating.
Dominant logic determines the kind of people you attract, kind of facility you have etc. i.e. the way you do church today (scissors) determines the kind of people you hire, your facility etc.

Innovation is not just ideas. People mistake innovation as creativity. Innovation is implementing creativity. And it's very much 1% innovation 99% perspiration.

Innovative leaders need to be humble to harness great possibilities.
We need humility to remain a great country.

The 3 boxes (diagram) need different people and different plans. Managing the present and creating the future are two different things; scissors are totally different from Fosbury Flop.

Take away: Leadership is taking people from here to there. You have to manage here while figuring out what there is.

A study:
The "dumb" group of optimists outsold the "smart" negative group by 53%!
#1 factor in achieving = whether or not you BELIEVE it can get done!

The dummies don't take it personally so they just keep going. The smart group got sidetracked, wondered if they were missing something, rethought things, took it personally. The positive dummies kept going which created success.

the downward spiral
personal: I suck, that's why this isn't working
pervasive: my whole life sucks
permanent: it will always be this way

2. Control, get back in
Make 2 columns: what's controllable and what is not. Work on the things you can control. Everyone has control of something. "Therefore don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

3. Connect
The opposite of bad is not good; the opposite of bad is LOVE.
Connect with people, talk about the battle. When we connect the brain changes:

Eg. of lone monkey in cage exposed to stressors: freaked out. Didn't change the stressors, just added a monkey and they chilled out. Our brain changes when we connect.

A can-do attitude will always find a way.
(Story of his daughter surfing, wanting to stay and surf--he wanted her to come home with him so she'd have a ride. "Dad, I'll find a way!" That's when he knew she'd be alright.)

Message of Acts (eg of 1st century teaching):YOU killed Him.God brought Him back to life.Say you're sorry.

The central message of the church wasn't "We believe something is true." It's "We believe something happened." God has done something--raised Jesus from the dead.

If a guy can predict his death and resurrection and pulled it off--I'm in!

James (Jesus' bro) may be the best case for Christ. Think about it: what would your brother have to do to convince you he's the son of God?! ;-)

A band of ordinary men took Jesus' charge and ran with it--in the midst of the Roman Empire. But look what's transpired:

There's a cross in the Coliseum, over the Emperor's Gate, in a Roman Coliseum.
Could Paul have imagined when he was being led to be beheaded in the Coliseum, that there would eventually be a cross over the Emperor's Gate?

People all over the world come to see where Paul, Peter (others) were buried. And there's nothing to commemorate Nero, Rome's emperor. But people come to visit fishermen.

Could Paul have known there would come to be crosses on all kinds of buildings--a universal message that he had preached?

Could Paul have known that Caesar Augustus, the greatest emperor of the greatest nation would become nothing more than a footnote in the story of Jesus' birth?

Could Paul have known that untold numbers of people would name their children Paul, Peter, Matthew, Mark etc. and name their dogs Caesar and Nero? ;-) (credit John Ortberg, actually)

Could Paul have known that there would come to be no Roman Empire, but there would be a Church rooted in Jesus all over the World?

Friday, August 2, 2013

When I blog, tweet, or Facebook I am most scared about...How my Tribe will React

My tribe is made up of people commissioned to love their neighbor. To be know in the world as people marked by an unusually loving unity. But before I post anything, I notice that I metaphorically look around the corner for someone who may throw a stone at me.

And I notice I'm not so concerned about the non-Jesus followers. My mind's eye looks for fellow tribesmen.

When thoughts on homosexuality or the simple act of enjoying a beer come to mind, I think,

"Better be careful. Someone will take issue with this. You may lose some of your influence. You may lose some respect from some Christ followers in town."

To non-Christians, thoughts on those subjects are commonplace. Normal. Rarely volatile. Not so among my tribe.

And please, I understand the need for caution and wisdom in social media. Influence must be stewarded. But the tension I sense is this:

If I shrink back from commenting and connecting with issues and items in the culture, for fear of losing influence with my tribe, I feel a greater risk--the risk of losing influence and connection with those outside the Jesus tribe.

People looking in at the Jesus-life I try to live, have real questions. Valid curiosities.

"Can I still drink beer and go to church without feeling guilty?" Yes, as long as it's not Budweiser. (Sorry, I joke.)
"If I think about checking out your Jesus group, what do I do with my gay friends/family members?"

I am sensing that I am caring less about offending the brethren with risky conversation and commentary about issues that are potentially divisive inside our tribe.

I am sensing that our capital T Tribe risks being easily dismissed and further marginalized the longer we fail to engage in a loving way on topics that normal people find benign or curious.

I am sensing that perhaps pastors need to teach people inside the Tribe to chill the heck out on issues that are minuscule compared to the Great Commission.

I am sensing that it's time for us live a more loving than judging lifestyle in and among this world.

If you're outside the Jesus tribe and wonder what it's really supposed to look like to follow Jesus...

If you're part of our Jesus tribe and I've confused you because you thought our job was to hold the line and decry all that's wrong in the world...

Then maybe this short 62 page eBook will help. I wrote it because I care about Jesus, you, me and our world. I wrote it because I want to be part of the solution, not just part of a bitchy blogosphere. (Someone just reached for a stone ;-)

Click the book below and it will take you directly to the PDF. I don't want your email or info. This is just the free offer of some artful, inspired words that may help.